There are so many pieces and so many thoughts that make up who I am. Pieces of Me explores the questions, vulnerability, connection and adventures that tell my story. Everyone has a journey, this one is mine.

My cousins and I, we are The Kinnie Club. While we may all be individual squares that make up the crazy old crochet quilt we call our family – made from mismatched colours and left over balls of wool – we are still just one big quilt. This is the place where I share our stories of tradition, celebration, connection and love.

The conversations over coffee that have filled my life with memories and with lessons are conversations that I want to share with you. On the last Tuesday of each month, Conversations over Coffee will open up as a blog link-up, open to all who would like to join. Each month a theme will be set and the only request is that your post be connected to that theme.

When your cake smash doesn’t go according to plan

Tuesday, January 19th, 2016

When my godson turned one, his mum asked me if I would like to photograph him in a cake smash photo shoot. Of course I said yes – I was so excited and thought it would be the best thing ever.
We set up the bunting, foil balloon, gorgeous cake, bow tie for the birthday boy, checked the lighting, looked through the #cakesmash hashtag on Instagram for inspiration, camera ready and … my godson was hysterical from the minute he touched the cake.

He was screaming and crying, madly crawling away from the cake. Both his mum and I were shocked. We tried everything to make him smile and encourage him to smash the cake, dancing around and being silly.

Nothing worked. He just was not into it.
We postponed the shoot for the next day … and the next day he did it again.

His mum wanted the cake smash images to frame and use at his birthday party, so, like all good mums, we faked it. We smeared cake on the floor, crumbled up cupcakes, broke up his cake, and in the moments he wasn’t crying I snapped just enough images to make his mum happy.
The end result was a hashtag you never see on social media: #cakesmashEpicFail.

This article first appeared in Essential Baby, to read the rest, click here.